Boe, whose given name is Gary, has worked in his family's restaurants and operated his own. And in the wake of Hubbard's resignation and guilty plea to bribery charges, he is the parish's acting chief administrative assistant, the parish's top appointed position.

Brett Duke / The Times-PicayuneSt. John acting CAO Buddy Boe

Now 24, Boe wants to take the reins of parish government as Hubbard awaits sentencing.

He's competing against Perry Bailey of Edgard, Gerald Keller of Reserve, Natalie Robottom of LaPlace and Richard "Dale" Wolfe of Reserve in the March 27 election. A runoff, if necessary, will be held on May 1.

The parish president oversees a $59 million budget, supervises approximately 200 employees and makes $123,318 a year.

Boe said his age is an asset because he has the energy to solve the parish's problems, which he says have lingered for decades.

"We're finally getting the things done that have been promised for so long," Boe said, noting that he and other parish officials plan to fly to Washington next week to lobby for the parish's proposed hurricane levee.

"We're leaving at 6 a.m. and will get back here at 9 p.m. You want to have someone who has the energy to do that."

Boe says Hubbard's troubles, which he describes as "the situation," haven't stopped the parish from moving forward.

"Bill Hubbard got elected to get things done," Boe said. "He got elected to solve problems. He did not get elected to do the act he did. And he is paying those consequences.

"What I tell people is that I've been a part of this community for years, I've been involved in civic and community aspects of this parish for a long time."

Hubbard's downfall resulted in Boe's promotion to acting chief administrative assistant, working for Pat McTopy, the former chief who is now acting parish president.

Though Boe's name came up publicly as the parish's spokesman, he said he was a policymaker in the administration.

"I was at the table when decisions were made," he said.

Boe said he was as surprised as anyone by the turn of events, and has been too busy to dwell on it much.

"I was told the week before that there was an investigation. Then when the story broke, I just had to deal with things as they were," he said. "I was the face on television responding to this, telling the public that our government was still functioning. It's been one thing after another since then."

He said McTopy has agreed to serve as his top assistant if he is elected.

"We're continuing to make tremendous strides, because of the leadership, energy and cooperation of Pat, myself and the council," he said, "Fifteen million dollars in revenue bonds for sewage. The (east bank hurricane) levee: a real possibility now. Water system: turned on, fully activated, meeting all standards."

Boe also points to the parish's plan for the sewer system, which includes improvements to the LaPlace treatment plant and repairing lines and manholes to stop rainwater from getting into the system and overloading it.

"We're going to go from a place where we had very little capacity left, and no capacity when it rained, to being able to handle 12 to 15 years of growth," he said.

Once the parish's basic services are in shape, it will be in a position to seek money for projects like extending the runway of the St. John Airport so it can handle larger planes, which in turn could launch airport-related businesses as well as other amenities that residents want.

It also will be able to focus on quality-of-life issues.

"There's no reason that we don't have a skate park in St. John. There's no reason that we don't have gazebos at every one of our boat launches," he said. "I have the energy to finish the projects that we need, like water, sewer and drainage, then go after the things that residents want."

GARY "BUDDY" BOEPersonal
• 24. Born in Metairie. Lives in LaPlace.
• Married.
• Graduated from Jesuit High School, New Orleans.
• Studying for a degree in political science, Tulane University College.
• St. John the Baptist Parish, acting chief administrative assistant. Operated Buddy's restaurant at the Waterford 3 nuclear power plant for five years, worked in family's Garyville restaurant, Buddy B's.
• Purchasing director at Cargill Inc. for two years.
• Member, Young Leadership Council, LaPlace Lions Club.Political
• Republican since 2002.
• Worked as an assistant to the parish president and spokesman in Hubbard administration; promoted to acting chief administrative assistant in 2009.
• Ran unsuccessfully for council at-large, Division B seat in 2006.
• Worked on political campaigns of Billy Tauzin in 2004, Nickie Monica in 2003, Mitch Landrieu in 2006 and Bill Hubbard in 2007.Philosophy and platform
• Streamline government by creating a commission, within 30 days of taking office, to review and analyze government operations and structure. Implement full disclosure requirements of all insurance contracts and for members of the administration.
• Complete capital projects program for parish, including drainage improvements in the Old Riverlands, St. Peters, and St. Joan of Arc area projects, along with planned water and sewer system improvements so that parish will have another 15 years capacity for growth.
• Start building east bank hurricane protection levee.
• Remove blighted properties throughout parish by beefing up code enforcement.
• Improve recreational offerings with skate park or water park and bringing YMCA to the parish.
• Capitalize on St. John's strategic location to bring new businesses to the parish.More information
• www.buddyboe.com